👉 In Australia’s courts, China doves are undefeated across all major cases against China hawks repeatedly repelling hawkish China narratives.

The pattern is now unmistakable: cases framed around claims of Chinese influence or “foreign agents” collapse when tested under defamation law’s evidentiary requirements.

1. Chau Chak Wing v ABC/Fairfax (2021) – Comprehensive DOVE WIN ✓
   ✔ Damages: $590,000 + full legal costs
   ✔ Permanent injunction: ABC barred from republishing Four Corners episode
   ✔ Judicial finding: ABC implied Chau was a CCP agent without admissible evidence
   ✔ Significance: Set the modern standard—mere proximity to PRC officials is not evidence of covert influence
   
   Impact: This ruling shocked national security reporters. News Corp editorialised that the judgment produced a “chilling effect” on investigative journalism involving China. Practically speaking, it established:
   • Association is not evidence.
   • Accusations of PRC interference must be supported by direct, provable, and fact-specific conduct.
   This has become the single most powerful precedent protecting individuals accused of Chinese political influence.
2. Marcus Reubenstein v Geoff Wade & Commonwealth (2021–2023) – DOVE WIN ✓
   ✔ Payout: ~$110,000 (confirmed in Senate Estimates via Comcover)
   ✔ Retraction: Wade stated there was “no truth” to claims Reubenstein was a foreign agent
   ✔ Government admission: Commonwealth accepted vicarious liability for a staffer’s tweets
   ✔ DPS revelation: No social media policy existed during Wade’s online attacks
   
   Context: Reubenstein—aligned with pro-engagement, anti-hawks commentary successfully forced a public servant and the Commonwealth to retreat.
   Why this mattered: First time an Australian government entity effectively took responsibility for an official’s hawkish “Chinese agent” accusations on Twitter.
3. Meyer Vandenberg “China Hawks” Threat Campaign (2022) – HAWK THREAT COLLAPSES ✓
   ✔ Targets: Michael West Media, Marcus Reubenstein, John Menadue, James Laurenceson, Suzy Cong
   ✔ Result: All threats withdrawn, no filings
   ✔ Menadue: Removed articles but issued no apology
   ✔ Meyer Vandenberg: Ran a five-front legal intimidation campaign with no disclosed financier
   
   Critical detail: Michael West revealed that Meyer Vandenberg whose major client is the federal government was issuing high-cost speculative threats on behalf of a mid-ranking public servant with no plausible personal capacity to pay, while refusing to disclose who actually funded the operation.
   Outcome: total strategic faceplant. Not a single claim progressed to court.
4. Geoff Wade v Michael West Media (2024–2025) – DOVE WIN ✓
   ✔ Filed: Nov 2024
   ✔ Discontinued by Wade: May 2025 (after mediation)
   ✔ Payout by West: $0
   ✔ Crowdfunding: West raised $40,000 in 24 hours
   ✔ PR impact: Michael West Media reported significant growth in subscribers and crowdfunded entire legal defence. Est Value: +$150,000 in new subscriptions and visibility
   ✔ Estimated cost burden on Wade: ~$200,000 (beyond a public servant’s means)
   
   Analysis: Wade one of Australia’s most vocal China hawks proceeded with a suit that rapidly became a PR disaster. West’s team prepared what he called an “ambulance-chaser defence”, effectively turning the courtroom into a referendum on hawkish narrative laundering.
   The case ended in zero damages for Wade, a public humiliation for hawkish forces, and a strengthened West readership base.